First off, imagine you are a political visionary and have worked for justice and equality and finally get into power through the democratic process after a popular uprising and the sheer force of the populace loosens the dictator’s grip. You have plenty of oil revenues and things looked good with you introducing a billion dollars of social reforms, improving literacy, reducing poverty and a section of your people love you. But you overestimate your support generally, get involved in the corruption you were supposed to eradicate, cannot completely ignore the Constitution and are forced to hold a Referendum on your future, “should I stay or should I be fired?”. …

Growing up, one of the most memorable conversations I had with my Dad was when he told me about the family history and I found out I was adopted into the Macneils after not knowing my biological father. All I can say was something very strange and profound was going on in my “heart” (yes, a spiritual experience!) that was subconscious but I could tell was of enormous importance. I had experienced the same feeling inside when I was listening to the U2 song ‘Drowning Man’ when I was 14 — I recommend reading the lyrics to that song!

I also later found out from my Gran and her sister that their mother, Marion Macneil, a mum of I think 13 children, would sit them down on a Sunday afternoon and teach them from the Bible. Without any exaggeration, I believe I was preserved from certain death during four prodigal years as a young person by the prayers of that woman. …

“Recent Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang hinged his entire campaign on the idea of a true universal basic income where every American over the age of 18 would receive US$1,000 every month”.

Let us put this in perspective, it is no longer a fringe idea of the Left and of the libertarian Right. Such is the vision of the ‘Great Reset’ as envisaged by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the name of a “fairer, more equitable”, more environmentally responsible society. Many labour unions in the UK have now passed resolutions at recent conferences lobbying for “UBI” that would liberate workers from the bondage of work and allow them to spend their time doing something else. Of course, the income will be basic, meaning you will need to accept a certain level of subsistence and no more to prevent inappropriate inequality. You will own nothing and “be happy about it”. Perhaps a government issued vehicle, government allocated holiday locations, a government issued games console, TV, computer, that are privileged to you on condition you are a good citizen. No more debt. Energy will be green, rationed, and expensive, and travel will be restricted to protect the environment. Your diet will be controlled, and currency will be digital. There may be those with great wealth but that is because they will be the ones designing our better world and they need it to facilitate and support their visionary work. As Klaus Schwab (the founder of the WEF) has said, “there will be a fusion of our digital, our biological, identities” (repeated in his book, The Great Reset). Bill Gates has the same idea in mind when he talks about an RNA based vaccine (the new kind developed for preventing COVID) that will be able to “delete” the God-gene in people (considered an evolutionary artefact that has now served its purpose; we have matured, we have just plain outgrown the need for a “God”) and normalise them to become full and proper, fully committed and responsible members of society. …

Now I am not easily shocked these days, but something I read yesterday really did shock me. The CEO of Amnesty International Ireland, Colm O’Gorman has signed an open letter published in Gay Community News, calling for political representation to be stripped from all those who disagree with transgenderism or gender ideology. The letter is a passionate telling of one version of LGBT(+Q/I..) history, one in which all of T supported by LGB and the feminists stood together, in common cause for recognition and equality, stirring stuff ! However, the incendiary sentence is this one:

“We call on media, and politicians to no longer provide legitimate representation for those that share bigoted beliefs, that are aligned with far right ideologies and seek nothing but harm and division.” …

Let me make this clear, I am not an American so I write this as an interested observer knowing that whatever happens in the States, good and bad, sooner or later, finds its way over here.

Rather predictably, with Trump’s “refusal to concede” the Left of American politics has been liberally using the word “fascist”, “coup-attempt” and “death of American democracy” in talking about his legal challenges. Medium is “full” of such marvellous analysis — some of it good, a lot of it bad and others just plain ugly. However, in my view, and I would have thought in any non-fascist view, anyone interested in saving American democracy would be right behind Trump irrespective of whether you voted for him. …

This is a section from a full dissertation that can be found here or here.

The fact that our Primeminister, Boris Johnson, a middle-aged, overweight and generally unfit individual contracted COVID and recovered was only news when it looked like he would die. Indeed, empirically, the disease has now been shown to be less dangerous for “children” (medically defined as U21s) than a winter flu. Out of 70000 university students in the US who tested positive for COVID-19, zero — yes, zero — have died according to the most recent data available from the CDC. Healthy adults up to 35 years old are more likely to die in a road-traffic accident according to a comprehensive study by Levin et al, an international group of epidemiologists[18]. …

If you want to make money in 2020, the way to do it is to find some product connected with COVID-19, convince everyone that they need it and then sell it to them. Such would be the master plan. Let us look at the options to get rich quick…..

First contender, face-masks. The problem with face-masks is, to put it mildly, that it is a real struggle to come up with strong evidence for their efficacy, even their strongest advocates admit the evidence is “mixed” (every report even in the NYT uses words such as “some” experts suggest they “may” be of benefit) and they do, in practice, do very little to prevent the spread of the disease. What is even worse, is that there are now warnings being issued by some doctors that extended wearing of face masks produces a nice bacterial mix in the face mask because of the perfect temperature caused by the warm air you are continually exhaling and inhaling, and that, soft, abosrbent material in your mask leading to a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nasties normally exhaled into the open air, that can lead to bacterial forms of pneumonia. Risky investment! However, some countries like South Africa are giving it a good go, you can now report your spouse for refusing to wear one in the house and it is as serious a crime as attempted murder, so there is potential to make some money in SA. However, elsewhere, the ridiculous looseness of the requirements in the various countries around the world (from a handkerchief or headscarf around the mouth or your favourite bandana) and the negligent attitude to enforcement, is a silent admission that it is primarily a psychological ploy to help people “feel safe” so they can go out and spend some pennies before there is a worldwide economic collapse which would be far worse than any novel coronavirus. …

Tomorrow is a significant day in the UK and in various “virus hotspots” around Europe. It will be mandatory for shoppers to wear masks and there is also a requirement to wear masks in all sorts of “public enclosed spaces” like waiting for a bus, ordering a takeaway etc. What is more, you will be fined £100 (around $130) for not wearing masks and police “can use force” if you refuse to comply with a request to wear a mask.

Now, you might think it peculiar as to what all the fuss is about regarding wearing a mask, after all, in certain countries of the world (particularly the East and Asia) wearing facemasks has been common since the early 2000s when the SARS virus was thought to have the potential to change human civilisation as we know it. Many think of it as a courtesy to others, to help prevent infection of your neighbour, it is an ethical thing to do. …